David Blair Continues the Tradition of Dee's Flowers

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Irene DeBlasio, who once owned and ran a boutique along Ventura Boulevard, is one of Studio City Patch's bloggers, and a perfect person to profile a longtime local business.)

Throughout the ages flowers and plants have been used to signify celebrations, rituals, traditions and benchmark dates.

The ancient Druids used mistletoe to indicate a meeting place where no violence would take place. The Chinese use bamboo to symbolize longevity and strength. Red poppies have always represented remembrance of the fallen in war, while white poppies show opposition to warfare.

The flower of life is a geometrical design I've seen near antiquities in Paris and Istanbul. Palms are associated with the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. Flowers and plants are used in many cultures for medicinal purposes as well as esthetics.

Those of us who are of-a-certain-age easily recall our prom corsage and the red long-stemmed roses (with baby's breath which had to be discarded to prevent the family pet from chewing on it and getting sick) in the milk glass vase.

It's a special honor for me to tell you about David Blair, the youngish wizard who has owned for the past three years.

Dee's has been on Moorpark near Troost for 65 years now but David is at the helm and has built a reputation with a 'hot list' of neighbors and customers like Bill and Susan Hayes, Mitzi Gaynor, Charlie Brill, Aaron Kamin and Berry Gordy (yes, that Super Music Motown Mogul who resides in Brentwood). David already has orders for 22 Holiday trees which he will erect and decorate—one is an 18-footer.

David creates custom gift baskets too—he recently did one for a group of college kids. It was a $300 "junk food" basket—a laundry basket filled with cookies, candy and chips.  I asked him about any odd requests he's received. Once he had to deliver a dozen dead roses and the recipient became livid when she opened the box. The dead roses had been sent by a business associate who had blamed her for ruining a deal. She threatened to write a terrible review about David's shop but he persuaded her to first READ THE CARD (don't kill the messenger!)

When I asked David how he became interested in flowers he gave the loveliest answer. He said that his Grandma had been a bookkeeper in a flower shop in Ohio. When he was a little boy he would go to the shop on Friday afternoon and wait for his Grandma to finish her calculations so they could go and have their family dinner altogether.

On David's 24th birthday he gave himself a trip to Southern California. He says, "Once I saw it, I knew I had to stay!" We're so glad he made that decision and wish him continued success.